The Two of Us: Brett Holmes and Vanessa Locke

Brett Holmes owns The Salon, a household hairdressing name in Tauranga. He is a national expert in long hair and has held the illustrious title of "long hair ambassador and coiffure" for Schwarzkopf Professional in New Zealand for the last four years. Vanessa Locke is a senior hairdresser and colourist at The Salon - and Brett's friend. Brett:

I never intended to employ Vanessa, although I knew she was hugely talented. I'd seen her at hairdressing competitions and had never talked to her (couldn't help but hear her, though).
One day a very good friend told me he had a fantastic hairdresser that I needed to interview and in the door walked Vanessa. I invited her to perform a colour and a complete reshape on her model's hair in front of all the staff - and despite the pressured circumstances, she completely pulled it off. I couldn't fault her and thought I'd better employ her, as I wouldn't like to have her as a competitor.
That was in 2003, and since then we have worked and travelled the world together. Vanessa is my muse; she's amazing. Before presenting at a hairdressing show I'll talk to her and she'll help articulate my vision so I'm on the same wavelength as my audience. She just gets me.
Vanessa is also one of the few people who can understand my handwriting - it's flamboyantly bad and it covers up my crap spelling, but she can somehow interpret it.
The reason we get on so well is that neither of us feel we have anything to prove to one another. I also recognise that nine times out of 10 she's right. We have a lot of fun together. She once completely glittered out my bedroom - do you know how hard it is to get glitter out of the grouting of your shower?
Although I have 15 staff, I'm not a natural leader, but my practice of Buddhism has taught me to be a more mindful leader. I am a typical Leo and I can react and fire bullets. Sometimes this happens with Vanessa, but it's over in minutes. Buddhism keeps me in check and Vanessa respects the importance of Buddhism in my personal and professional life. We have an understanding. We are black-and-white with each other, yet kind.
Vanessa:
It's a weird relationship, but it works. It is a combination of best friends, father/daughter, brother/sister roles.
Although Brett is a creative type and can be temperamental, he is also very grounded in his spiritual beliefs through his Buddhism and, while we never discuss religion at work, his beliefs are embedded into the culture of The Salon.
He takes his role as a leader seriously and ensures our environment at work is immaculate and clean, our talk is honourable and we don't gossip unkindly. It is a tight ship, but a happy one. Every morning he prepares a fruit platter for the staff.
He reckons he's not a great leader, but he is and nearly all our staff who leave to go overseas or have children come back. I have worked in top UK salons, including Charles Worthington, but I'm so proud of our salon: it is world-class. Consequently, I never
get bored and he makes me feel like a valid member of the team, although I'm no Buddhist! I kill flies and spiders.
Many people in Tauranga don't realise Brett's internationally recognised expertise with long hair. The role sees him on the road many times a year nationally and internationally, impressing audiences with his creative skills. I often travel with him - we've gone to expos and conferences together in Australia.
He's always so professional; he's not there to party and drink, he's there to network, educate and learn. Brett is a great story-teller and this comes through in his presentations. However, although he is very charismatic, he is also very private - he refuses to have a personal Facebook account.
The main reason we get on so well is that we have taken the time to learn about each other.